Electric Velocipede is open to submissions from now until the end of January. Even though I was never closed, submissions did slow down a lot while I was in school. With the semester over, I now have time to catch up on things. Of course, that may be because I haven't responded to anyone in a few months. Every submission I currently have will hear from me by the end of the month. The next issue, #8, is full (but watch this space in case that changes). There is some space in #9 and a lot of space available for stuff after that.

Here are the basic guidelines:

FICTIONPrefer 2K to 3K in length, will accept up to 10K. I want to see something different. If you've read the zine, you know what that means. If you recognize the names of the people in the zine, you'll probably have an idea of what I want. If you've read The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, you have an idea of what I want. Science fiction is fine; I just don't care for hardcore nuts and bolts. Fantasy is fine; I'm just not all that comfortable with elves, dwarves, unicorns, etc. Cross-genre is more than fine, and weird is just about perfect. Despite the zine's name, it's certainly not a requirement to write steampunk to be considered, but you will catch my ear if you do.

That's a wide enough variety of writing styles to give just about anyone a chance to write something I'd publish. And don't think you have to write in the style of these people to have a chance of getting a submission accepted; I don't want their clones, I want writers with their originality.

I do not want reprints.

I prefer to not receive simultaneous submissions.

Show me something out of the ordinary.

POETRY I will not accept anything longer than 100 lines. I am reluctant to even consider anything that approaches 50 lines. I feel that anything longer than 100 lines is difficult on the reader and not worth pursuing, with anything longer than 50 lines pushing the limit of reader interest. Most poems (other than haikus) that are published in Electric Velocipede tend to run around 15 or 20 lines. Otherwise, the same guidelines follow as for fiction. Bruce Boston, Christina Sng, Kevin L. Donihe, Keith Allen Daniels, Joe Haldeman, and Neil Gaiman are all very talented poets. Don't copy their style, but use them for inspiration. Seek them out.

Please do not send me more than five poems at one time. When I get ten or twelve (or more) poems from one person at one time, it tends to numb me to their style. I can't see too much from you all at once. Wait for my response to see if you're on the right track.

I do not want reprints.

I prefer to not receive simultaneous submissions.

Show me something out of the ordinary.

GENERALI prefer 10 pt Courier typeface. Please try to use this even if it makes you ill. At this time, I am still paying in copies (3), although I am working on being able to pay for accepted pieces. Since I'm looking at Fall 2005 for the first issue with available space, I hope that I can make payments a reality. They will not be big.

I prefer e-mail submissions, but if you want to mail me a submission, please send it to:

If you've sent something already, there's no need to resubmit in Courier.

JK

John Klima

Posted on Monday, January 03, 2005 - 01:52 pm:

OK, I've read everything I've gotten up through almost the end of 2004. I need to send out responses to people still, but I plan on getting to that soon.

If you haven't heard from me by the end of the week, please contact me.

JK

John Klima

Posted on Thursday, March 03, 2005 - 12:29 pm:

Slight update:

Despite earlier reports of only being open to the end of January, Electric Velocipede is currently open to submissions with no end date in sight. If this changes, it will be mentioned here and everywhere else I can think to do so.

Look for a two to three month response time. That's the best I can do these days with everything that demands my attention. It might be faster, it might be slower. I make an honest effort to let people know if it's going to take longer. If you make it past the first wave to my re-read pile, I may have your story for six months to a year before I can make a final decision. This is a good thing. Query if your concerned. I don't mind.

I am working on getting fairly far ahead in my issue selection. This will make it easier for me to put together issues during the small bit of time when I am not in class. The issues will continue to come out twice a year.

JK

JK's little helper

Posted on Friday, March 04, 2005 - 09:36 am:

You mean, "not in class, OR DOING YOUR HOMEWORK, OR AT YOUR FULLTIME DAY JOB."

If you need help weeding through the slush pile or sending out responses, let me know. As an aspiring writer, eventhough I have not been published, I am fairly certain I can do some of the preliminary work like sorting the stories into bad, interesting and deserves another look, and oh-my-gosh knock your socks off great.

Let me know if you are interested.

Sincerely, Tracy Taylor

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